


Emotional Support and Intelligence

by threedices



Series: Naruto rare pair week 2020 [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Brotherly Angst, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Family Drama, Insecure Uchiha Sasuke, Inuzuka Hana is Good at Feelings, Little Brothers, No Uchiha Massacre, POV Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Itachi is bad at feelings, Uchiha Sasuke Has Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:55:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24094693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/threedices/pseuds/threedices
Summary: Itachi and Hana are soon getting married and Itachi thought everything was going well. Unfortunately, Sasuke doesn't quite take Itachi leaving him behind so well.There's a talk about their feelings looming in the near future that Itachi is dreading.
Relationships: Inuzuka Hana/Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Itachi & Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Itachi & Uchiha Shisui
Series: Naruto rare pair week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1734313
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	Emotional Support and Intelligence

It's like marrying a family.

Hana introduces him to every member by name and lets every single pup slobber over his face in greeting.

Itachi thinks it might be test, but he doesn't mind.

After roughly three dozen dogs and a quarter of the number of humans, Itachi seems to have passed.

Hana's mother, the clan head, pats him on the back.

You're a good kid, she says, and Itachi tries to smile politely and hopes none of his robs are broken.

After that, he is allowed to come and go at will and none of the people of Hana's family will try to bite him.

Itachi considers it a great achievement and tells Shisui as such.

Shisui, knowledgeable and dating Anko-san nods wisely.

"You guys are practically already married. The ceremony is just a formality."

Shisui is not married, so he might not be the best judge of that, but Itachi trusts him.

"Have you decided?"

Itachi has. "I will take on her name."

Shisui's smile is wry, a bit crooked. "Have you told Sasuke already that he will be clan heir soon?"

"Not yet." Itachi hesitates. "I should tell him first, shouldn't I?"

Beside him, Shisui hums."If you want to give him a chance to prepare."

Sasuke has always been in Itachi's shadow. Maybe this will make him happy.

He leaves Shisui with a quick goodbye.  
Shisui's chakra is calm and content behind him.

Sasuke's reaction to the news is confusing.

He seems angry of all things.

"So you are leaving the clan?"

It's an easy enough question.

"Yes."

Sasuke's eyes narrow and his fists clench.

That wasn't how Itachi expected him to act.

He always wanted to have their father's attention.  
Becoming heir will assure it, while Father trains him.

You are not happy, Itachi says.

Sasuke laughs, sharp and slightly bitter.  
"No, I'm not. How could I be?"

"Wasn't this what you wanted?" Itachi knows he sounds confused, but he is. Sometimes Sasuke is so full of foreign feelings as to be nearly incomprehensible

"Are you only leaving because of me?' Sasuke says, loud and edged with emotion, and if it was anyone else, Itachi would be preparing for a fight.

Such a strange wording.

"Of course not. I am leaving to join Hana's clan for marriage."

Saduke looks at him as if he doesn't know what to say.

It's mutual, and Itachi in return doesn't know what to feel.

"I wanted to inform you. Shisui said it would be a good idea."

As soon as he's the words are out of his mouth, Itachi knows it was the wrong thing to say.

"You talk about me with Shisui? Behind my back?"

Sasuke is clearly not in his right mind anymore.  
Something needs to be done.

Itachi decides on a quick genjutsu before knocking him out.

Leaving Sasuke under the watchful eyes of a murder of his summons, Itachi leaves to speak to Hana.

Sasuke might not wish to come to the wedding, given his reaction so far.

Hana should know that.

After arriving at her house, Hana takes one look at him and orders him to cuddle with her partners on the couch.

Itachi doesn't mind. The brothers have finally taken a liking to him, or Hana has negotiated on his behalf, and they no longer mark his possessions or chew up his mission reports.  
Their fur is coarse and shiny, warm to his touch, and their weight in his lap is extremely soothing.

One of them licks his ear, another noses his cheek, and the third one opens his jaws in a cracking yawn by his feet before putting his muzzle down to nuzzle at Itachi's ankle.

Itachi feels safe and the curious, upset feeling from talking with Sasuke mellows out a bit. 

What happened, Hana asks when she brings him his own cup if jot cocoa.

Buried under her digs, Itachi tries to convey a shrug. I don't know. Sasuke's was. Not happy.

About what? Hana watching him patiently while he searches for words to describe it.

Her head tilts slightly, when he's done.

"He thinks you're leaving."

Itachi's puzzled enough to say, "I am."

Hana looks calm and blinks her eyes slowly. "He thinks you're abandoning him, leaving him behind because you like me better now."

"He does?"

Hana shrugs, quick, shoulders falling easily.  
She grins at him with her sharp fangs showing.  
"That's what I think. Kiba was the same when you and I started dating. Thought I'd like you more than him."

Itachi frowns slight, chasing understanding. "But you don't."

"Of course not. He's my brother." Hana sounds offended.  
One of the brothers huffs and another seems to deliberately sneeze at just this second.  
The one at his feet growl and tries half-heartedly to bite his toes.

Itachi takes it all in stride.  
The brothers don't bite him hard anymore. It's more a small nip, like he has seen older dogs do to correct pups.

He's the newest member of the pack, so it fits.

"What should I do?"

Hana takes his question seriously, as always.  
She doesn't think he is being sarcastic, or condescending, or not serious, when he asks her for advice.

"Talk to him. Tell him all the things he should already know. That you love him best and will never give up on him and that you want him to be happy above everything else."

Itachi relaxes.

That is good advice, clear and well-meaning.

It's one of the things he likes most about Hana.

She is honest and straightforward, always willing to speak plainly.

"Thank you. You're amazing." He smiles at her.

She snorts a soft laugh and comes over to kiss him and ruffle his hair.

"If you can't find him, the boys and I will help you. Right boys?"

All aroubd him, the brothers yip quick, sharp barks of agreement that ripple through Itachi's whole body.

He pats each of them in turn.  
"I thank you, as well."

The brothers stand up and nose his hands in turn, their jaws open in excited joy.

"If Itachi can't find him. Only then," Hana reminds them fond but firm.

The brothers grumble, but scatter agreeable enough.

"Come back when you've settled things with Sasuke. There's a new little being born today. Mom wants you to help."

She kisses him again and he feels a smile bloom.

"Of course. I'd be happy to."

Hana laughs good-naturedly. "That's what you say now. Let's see what think after several hours elbows deep in one of our welping mothers."

Itachi's half distracted by what he will say to Sasuke.  
"I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be than with you."

Hana's last kiss before he leaves takes him a bit by surprise.

The Inuzuka are passionate, though, and strongly believe in expressing their emotions.

It's what attracts him to Hana, after all.

For Itachi showing emotions is always so much more difficult.

Maybe that is one of the things he can learn from her.

But for now he has to find Sasuke and explain that he loves his little brother.


End file.
